Shogun Battleship
Not to be confused with the Shogun Executioner. "Behold, the Shogun Battleship!" :- Shogun Battleship captain Tactical Analysis *'Shirada cannons': Shogun battleships are armed with six guns a piece; three barrels on each of two turrets, one in the fore and one in the aft. While functionally similar to traditional 456mm battleship cannons, the superheated slugs of the Shirada cannons are even more destructive yet more precise. *'Ramming Speed': Although the guns on a Shogun Battleship are unable to track nearby targets, these vessels are far from defenceless up close. Their captains stand ready to supercharge their engines and ram any enemy vessels that dare to close the distance. *'The highest standard': There exist two types of Shogun Battleships, one of which is rarer and reserved for the most-venerable captains and commanders. These fortified Shogun battleships can be identified by their ornamental flags, and are altogether more powerful than their counterparts. *'In support of the armada': The strict code of the Imperial Navy dictates a symbiotic relationship between various fleet elements, linking their survival to their cooperation. As a result, the Shogun battleship eschews any anti-aircraft weaponry, lending it a purity of purpose as well as a perceived weakness. WWIII Operational History There is a grim irony in how destructive a vessel as majestic as the Empire of the Rising Sun's Shogun-class Battleship can be. While it is the standard-bearer of the Imperial navy, its decorative and symbolic nature is merely an embellishment of its role as a ship designed purely for coastal bombardment and long-range anti-naval combat. Forces of the Soviet Union, unfortunately for them, were only made aware of these details recently when the Empire launched its unexpected assault against the northern coast of Russia, decimating most of the defences there easily. The rest of the world is now all the wiser for their sacrifice. Shogun battleships are the largest, most expensive, and in many ways most powerful weapons in the Emperor's entire military, and never saw mass production. However, because they tend to be the most heavily defended and supported elements in an Imperial strike group, rarely have these sturdy ships been known to require even minor repair. Their weaponry is limited to six main guns, mounted in two rows of three along the fore and aft, allowing Shogun battleships to compensate for their slow turning speed by having 360-degree firing coverage. As expected, however, they must turn broadsides in order to attack a target with the full force of their guns. While the guns are unmistakably shaped like those of battleships from years past, they turn out to have been modified to launch a superheated projectile of some sort. The ensuing blast-impact must measure some unknown thousands of degrees Celsius at ground zero judging from the destruction they cause, and the guns themselves offer a remarkable rate of fire for such powerful weapons. While Shogun battleships naturally are kept to the rear ranks of Imperial armadas, some of the most dramatic first moments of this war happened when the Soviets initially managed to break Imperial ranks and engage a fleet of Shogun battleships directly. Once threatened, the battleships turned to face a defiant and emboldened Soviet fleet of Dreadnoughts and Stingrays, rather than turn broadsides. The Shogun battleships then all supercharged their engines in unison while engaging a fore-mounted point-defence shield system of some sort, rushing forward with appalling speed, smashing straight through the Soviet remnants, shattering them to pieces. Only an escort wolfpack of Akula subs survived, their captains shaken and near-maddened by the experience. The video evidence the captains returned is now being studied intently in order to gain more insight into Imperial strategy. If anything is predictable about Shogun battleships, it's that the command of such ships is reserved only for the most decorated, most honourable, and often eldest members of the Imperial navy. These are men who have given practically a lifetime of service to their Emperor, and are prepared and motivated to complete that service by fighting for the Empire to their last breath. It is said that to die in the captain's chair of a Shogun battleship is the highest honour achievable by a man born to modern Japanese society. Post-War Operational History On August 1968, during the Battle of the Bering Strait, said to be the largest naval battle in history, a quarter of the original Shogun battleships were sunk, resulting in the death of Admiral Naomi Shirada and the loss of dozens of capital ships. Shirada Shipworks, a long standing zaibatsu, was partially nationalised while a new heir was found. In order to replace the lost battleships, the Shogunate had Shirada distribute the Shogun's blueprints to the national Kure Naval Arsenal. Between them, the two contractors have thus far produced almost as many new Shogun battleships as had been lost with enough to expand the Imperial Navy's capital ship count by fifty percent from its pre-war numbers promised in the next six months. The new Shogun battleships are outfitted with AI-assisted point defence systems that should give Shogun battleships more of an ability to defend themselves against audacious, smaller enemy targets that manage to close the distance, if they ever do manage to evade the majestic ram of the Shogun. However, the new Shogun battleships have been noted to be inferior to the old Shogun Battleships, particularly in the strength of their cannons against structures. In part, this has been due to several cost cutting measures; many expensive materials used in the manufacture of Shogun battleship main guns have been substituted for cheaper but lower performance compounds, so as to further speed up battleship production. Following a recent event after an Empire scouting force consisting of a Shogun Battleship, four Naginata Cruisers, six Sea-Wings and several Yari Mini-Subs, against an Alert Icebreaker and an Assault Destroyer off the coast of North America, Shogun captains now take pride in seeking Allied 'Alert Icebreakers', for now they are not the only ones who engage in the honourable act of ramming another ship. Famous Ships Kure Shogun Battleships IJN Sagami - The first Kure Shogun Battleship, flagship of the Empire 21st Tactical Bombardment Fleet. IJN Akagi - Newest Shogun Battleship of the fleet, she has yet to see any major battles and is assigned to the 21st Tactical Bombardment Fleet. IJN Kongō - Currently under construction, the Kongō is designed to replace the IJN Yamamoto as the flagship of the Imperial fleet after its engagement at the Battle of Pearl Harbour revealed serious structural flaws in the Yamamoto. Shirada Shogun Battleships IJN Akatsuki - Fought during the Battle of Pearl Harbour. IJN Hasuri - Fought during the Battle of the Bering Strait and the Battle of Pearl Harbour. Sunk by the ANV Arizona during the Battle of Pearl Harbour. IJN Kin - Fought during the Battle of the Bering Strait and the Battle of Pearl Harbour. IJN Kirimoto - Flagship of the Shogun Shiro Kamina during the Battle of Pearl Harbour. Heavily damaged during the Battle of Pearl Harbour. The Kirimoto has been repaired and is back in action. IJN Kusanagi - Fought during the Battle of Pearl Harbour. IJN Mikoto - Flagship of the Shogun Kenji Tenzai during the First Battle of Leningrad. Damaged during the battle with most of the crew killed. IJN Tadashi - Fought during the Battle of Pearl Harbour. Sunk during the Battle of Pearl Harbour when the Assault Destroyer ANV Hurricane rammed into it. IJN Tsukireiki - Flagship of the Imperial 2nd Invasion Force in the Northern Sea, flagship of Shogun Shinzo Nagama during the Russian invasion. IJN Yamamoto - Flagship of the Admiral Inani Yamamoto, named after his father. Yamamoto was a flagship of the Imperial Pacific Fleet West group and fought during the Battle of Pearl Harbour. Heavily damaged by the ANV Arizona in the Battle of Pearl Harbour. The Yamamoto is still in dry dock. IJN Kurokumo - Fought during the Battle for the North Pacific, captured by Soviet forces during the Battle of Aomori. IJN Kaga - Fought during the Battle for the North Pacific and the Battle of the Bering Strait. Heavily damaged during a routine patrol of the South China Sea by unidentified ships. The Kaga has since been repaired and redeployed. IJN Mutsu - Fought during the Battle of Gibraltar, was sunk by the USS Oregon during a routine patrol of the Pacific Ocean. She was lost with all hands. IJN Nagato - Fought during the Battle of Gibraltar, sunk by the Scee-eeee-ee-eeek dolphin pod during the battle. IJN Siroko - Construction was never completed, fought during the Battle of Tokyo, was boarded and eventually captured by Allied personnel from the ANV Louisiana. Its entire crew was killed in the engagement. Just the Stats Category:Units Category:Units Originating from Japan